This post is the first in my Adaptive Paradox Leadership™ series. Modern leadership in a VUCA world is not about solving problems; it’s about navigating paradoxes. The complexity of today’s environment means your leadership is constantly full of tension. You may be asked to cut costs while also encouraging innovation, empower your team while also keeping control or maintain stability while also driving change. 

I experienced this firsthand when I was Academic Chair at NSCC. At one point, we needed to modernize marine training while also keeping long-standing Transport Canada standards intact. The push for innovation clashed with the demand for stability. Whenever we leaned too hard on one side, problems followed. It became clear that stability and change could not stand alone. Both needed to be held in play, since leaning too far to one side created risk. 

Management researchers often describe today’s environment with the term VUCA, which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It was first introduced at the U.S. Army War College and later popularized in management studies (Bennett and Lemoine, 2014). In such an environment, traditional problem-solving approaches fall short because paradoxes, not problems, are at the heart of leadership. 

Reflection Prompt 
Take a moment to pause and reflect on a tension you’ve faced. 

1. What did each side offer in terms of value? 

1. What was lost or at risk when one side dominated? 

1. What new ideas might emerge if you treated both sides as necessary? 

Example: Stability offers reliability but risks rigidity. Change sparks innovation but risks overwhelm. Holding both sides of a tension in play opens possibilities you might miss if you pick only one. 

Next in the series: I will introduce the idea of a paradox mindset, which is the foundation that allows leaders to see tensions not as problems, but as opportunities.